Tuesday

Training Tuesday

Another day, more singing. More friends. More Jesus.

Yesterday's devotion by Dr.Brinkley focused on the second part of Micah 6:8 - Love Mercy. She talked about how mercy is when God forgives us for our sins - just like in the story of King David. Even he messed up and he was a man after God's own heart - so we are bound to mess up, but God's mercy is what prevails. She told us a moving story about an interaction she had with a police chief that turned into a blessing because of mercy. And lastly, she encouraged the All-Staters to show mercy by treating people the way they deserve even when you don't feel like it. And to love doing it. Such a great start to the morning!

After that it was back to the choir room for a whole day of rehearsal! Sometimes these first few days feel sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long with endless rehearsals, but as any experienced All-Stater will tell you - the long days of hard work will pay off later in the week! But even though rehearsals are long, we still manage to have a little fun while singing a favorite song or doing silly warm-ups.

Early in the day on Tuesday, Dr.Wolfe-Hill talked to the students about training. She compared what the All-Staters are doing to training for the Olympics and compared herself to the coach. Olympians train as much as 8 hours a day - or more! And the coach is there encouraging, inspiring, and motivating the athlete to be the best that they can be.

These first few days have been pretty intense -  but its because Dr.Wolfe-Hill sees the potential in each and every All-Stater and wants to get the most potential out of each of them! I think the All-Staters really started to understand what she was saying. And thus - Training Tuesday began. (Here are a few pictures of "Coach" Wolfe-Hill in action!)

After lunch and family group pictures, the All-Staters had some free time that they spent drinking coffee, playing signs and other games, and forming life-long friendships. But after that it was back to the choir room for more smiles and songs!

And then it was time. The ever-popular talent show had a bit of an interesting twist this year with the counselors performing an Alamaba rendition of a choir warm-up. The All-Staters were all clapping and laughing, so I think they either thought we had lost our minds or they enjoyed it!

But then the real talent began! From dancing and tumbling to comedy, to some rockin' guitar music, organ and trumpet tunes, and of course the ever popular talent - singing. We are at All-State Baptist Youth CHOIR!

Of course all the performances were excellent, but what impressed me the most was the amount of support that the All-Staters gave to each other during and after each performance. You couldn't keep them in their seats as they were constantly jumping to their feet to cheer on their friends! This love and support is what really makes everyone you meet at All-State feel like family. Oh and I forgot to mention that following the talent show, the four-year Al-Staters gave a note and gift of welcome to the first years - as if to further prove my point. What a great night.

This is All-State.

Your Faithful All-State Blogger,

Carter

2016 NCBASYC - Are you Team Love or Team Mercy? from Carter Benge on Vimeo.